“Don’t worry about the science, Val, the husband and wife are not bitemark experts. They’ve not looked at real world cases, neither of them. Only the experts know what to look at, how to read a bitemark. You’ve had direct confrontation with this man. You know what he’s capable of. Don’t forget that. That will outweigh any scientific evidence. You’re a dentist too, just like all of our respected experts—who can compare his teeth to a wound and a victim of his. Your testimony matters more than any other.”

Val knew Haywood was right. Her testimony would mean more. The most, really. She had been bitten by this man. Who in the hell cares about science that’s saying you really can’t compare a bite in skin to the set of teeth that created it, when you have that? A man’s life hung in the balance, though, and Val would be the deciding factor. She hated Mr. Tate, she freely and fully admitted to that. But what Val had in her grasp was the balance to decide if he lived or died. Maybe this was her biggest quandary. Everyone has to look in the mirror at the end of the day and accept what they’ve done, their decisions, actions. Could Val wield truth here? The real truth. Could the law? Was Mr. Tate a serial killer or just a crazy man who bit her.

Val hadn’t been listening to Hayward, because she had been lost in her own thoughts in the last minute or two. Her silence must have weighed on him because he started to go into new arm-twisting territory. “This man can’t be loose on the streets. Look at what he did to you. If those cops weren’t outside your door the day of the attack…”

Val still didn’t respond. Hayward’s remarks only opened old wounds. Those cops brought this man to her office to begin with. They left him alone with her while they took a call. Cause and effect do not erase cause alone. They weren’t her saviors. They caused the problem. And had to correct it afterwards.

“Val, proper cross-examination will always bring out the faults in science.”

Val wasn’t that naive. Cross-examination is not about the truth, but about who argues better. There is no correction here. No righting of wrongs. The most convincing side wins, not the most righteous. Because, in the end, it is never about the truth but rather, who tells the most persuasive story. Isn’t it always?

Val was still silent. She didn’t want to do this and yet she couldn’t say no.